Stomping in the Mud Play Group is a rich, natural outdoor play environment where children have the opportunity to play outside, rain or shine ... a chance for preschoolers to 'live in the moment' while learning through play.

Saturday, 30 November 2013

The month of November provided our little Stompers with an endless supply of wonderful outdoor experiences - spawning salmon, a visit from a Barred owl, a very busy squirrel, some of the biggest mushrooms we have ever seen, and a couple of days of some wonderful ice. Awesome!

This Barred owl was the highlight of an early November forest walk near the river.

The children decided to plant some of the chestnuts they had been 'cooking' with. I quickly found an empty plant pot for them to fill with earth. On the following Stomping day we discussed their many questions on why the seeds hadn't yet started to grow.

On this day there was a lot of discussion and planning on how to make the blue tube stand upright in the sand box.

Week 1

The children are very interested in observing the composting of our Halloween pumpkins.

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

We experienced a couple of sub zero days which offered wonderful experiences with ice.

On this day we arrived at the 'stick forest' to find that the recent rain had produced some of the most numerous and largest mushrooms we have ever seen on the forest floor.

The air was filled with the wonderful scent of lavender and rosemary.

The spawning salmon started to arrive in the river at the beginning of November.

They didn't want to leave, so we sat and watch until they were finished!

"Play is often talked about as if it were a relief from serious learning. But for children play is serious learning. Play is really the work of childhood", Fred RogersThanks for Stomping by!

Friday, 1 November 2013

On this day we threw some leaves into the creek and followed them as they floated down stream. There are no salmon yet, but we hope to see some soon!

We read The Great Big Enormous Turnip and then tried some real turnip...yummy!

On our forest walk we found these three mushrooms. We didn't know that slugs like to eat mushrooms. The following three pictures were taken of the same mushrooms over the next three weeks. We observed that they grew and then started to look old. One even disappeared!

About Me

Hi there, my name is Dianne and the field of early childhood education has been my passion for over 30 years. Yes, I started in my early 20's. I recently retired from a preschool where I was the supervisor/manager for 23 years. In 2004, I was awarded the Prime Minister's Certificate of Achievement. I believe that preschoolers learn the most important things not by being told but by constructing knowledge for themselves in interaction with the physical world & with other children- they do this by playing. Play is natural. Last but not least, I am blessed to be granny to four grand daughters.